COVID-19: India reports 2,226 fresh cases, 65 more deaths
India on Sunday reported over 2,200 new COVID-19 cases, around 100 cases less than the previous day. The country's active caseload currently stands at 14,955, which accounts for 0.03% of the total cases recorded so far. In the past 24 hours, a total of 2,226 fresh cases and 65 more fatalities were recorded. Meanwhile, the country's recovery rate stood at 98.75%.
Why does this story matter?
India on Sunday reported fewer COVID-19 cases than the day before. Meanwhile, the active caseload and weekly positivity rate also recorded a decline on Sunday. Notably, India is currently witnessing a resurgence of COVID-19 cases, with some experts predicting the fourth wave in June. This comes after India recorded a sharp decline in COVID-19 cases from January end to April beginning.
2,202 patients recovered
According to the data shared by the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 4,31,36,371 COVID-19 cases until Sunday morning, while the cumulative death count stands at 5,24,413. With 2,202 fresh discharges, the number of total recoveries in the country climbed to 4,25,97,003. On the other hand, both daily and weekly positivity rates were recorded at 0.50% on Sunday.
Delhi adds most new cases
Maharashtra—one of the worst-hit states so far—recorded 307 new cases and 240 more recoveries on Saturday. Karnataka added 155 new cases and 166 recoveries, while Tamil Nadu witnessed 46 new cases and 40 discharges. On the other hand, Delhi reported 479 new cases and 569 discharges. Meanwhile, Kerala was yet to report its COVID-19 data for Saturday till the time of filing this report.
India's third wave peaked in January
Notably, India witnessed a massive spurt in coronavirus cases in December-end and at the beginning of January—dubbed India's third wave—due to the highly contagious Omicron variant. The third wave peaked on January 21, 2022, when 3.47 lakh single-day cases were recorded. However, this was lower compared to the second wave, when 4.14 lakh single-day infections were recorded at its peak on May 7, 2021.
Over 192 crore vaccine doses administered
As of Sunday afternoon, India administered over 192.1 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, over 88.1 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while more than 100.9 crore people have received at least one dose. On Sunday alone, India administered over 1.15 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses till 10:30 am, including over 68,000 second doses and over 5,000 first doses, according to Co-WIN.
3.11 crore 'precautionary' doses administered
India has administered over 3.11 crore "precautionary" doses since January 10. On Sunday, over 13,000 people in the age group of 18-59 years and over 31,000 people aged above 60 years were given the precautionary dose till 10:30 am.
India supplies COVID-19 vaccines under Quad initiative
Meanwhile, India has supplied COVID-19 vaccines to Cambodia and Thailand under an initiative of the Quad group of countries, the External Affairs Ministry said on Thursday. The ministry's data showed India last month sent 2,00,000 Covovax doses to Thailand and 3,25,000 Covishield doses to Cambodia under the Quad program. Notably, the Quad is a grouping of four countries—India, the United States, Japan, and Australia.
